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What veggies do you all plant that are less well known but well worth the effort?

I love the white turnips, Hakurei. Eat raw, crispy, lovely flavor.

Purple Passion asparagus: I though it was a gimmick, but this is the best tasting, most tender asparagus.

Painted Serpent melon: this is an Armenian cucumber with excellent flavor and never any bitterness. I've had some difficulty getting them to germinate, so plant a few extras. They are prolific, so very few vines needed.

Snow Leopard melon: closest comparison is honeydew, but not the same. This will produce a good melon in a short growing season. As will "Alaska" cantaloupe.

I don't know yet if it will be worth the effort, but I have several dozen Broccolini plants that I started in the house, and have been outside for a couple of weeks. I too have the Purple Passion asparagus, the first one just popped up about an inch yesterday.

Kohlrabi (wonderful in salads or chopped fresh)
I'll second the purple podded beans but I grow the pole variety
Heirloom tomatoes especially the black types
Tatsoi or other Asian greens
Tromboncini squash. Eat it young. Great on the grill, sautéed, in soups or stir fry. Prolific and not much bothered by bugs.
Ginger. Fantastic fresh. A lighter flavor. I can eat the thing raw. Good in stir fry, on meats etc.

I don't know if you'd consider it odd or not, but lemon cucumbers always did great for me in WA, even way up in the mountains with a very short growing season. You can eat the skins and they are very prolific and don't need as much time to mature as most regular cucumber varieties. They're quite sweet, too - not bitter at all, and I never had a "burp" issue with them, either.

Ive tried to grow artichokes. Their climate requirements are quite restrictive. They didn't do well for me. The plants would grow but not produce.

Artichokes are perennials. The perennials that do well for me are the asparagus, rhubarb, and berries. The rhubarb is a good one for me to grow because my family loves it and it is difficult to find in the grocery store. it's not "less common"; lots of gardens contain a rhubarb plant.

My next door neighbor grew white eggplant, variety "Casper". It was delicious, but didn't grow well for me. I don't know what he did that I didn't, but it grew for hm and not for me.

Ive tried to grow artichokes. Their climate requirements are quite restrictive. They didn't do well for me. The plants would grow but not produce.

Artichokes are perennials. The perennials that do well for me are the asparagus, rhubarb, and berries. The rhubarb is a good one for me to grow because my family loves it and it is difficult to find in the grocery store. it's not "less common"; lots of gardens contain a rhubarb plant.

My next door neighbor grew white eggplant, variety "Casper". It was delicious, but didn't grow well for me. I don't know what he did that I didn't, but it grew for hm and not for me.

Artichokes are very easy here, but they take up space.

For the OP question, I grow aragula and mache lettuce.

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